Facing Your Jericho
Facing Your Jericho By Stephen A. Seamands Jericho is staring Joshua in the face, with its imposing, impenetrable walls towering over him. This was a fortified city if there ever was one, armed with all the sophisticated weaponry of that day. It was in lockdown...
Prison Ministry Transformation
Prison Ministry Transformation By Joey Butler (UM News) – “I was in prison and you came to visit me.” — Matthew 25:36 When he was 18, Dusty Merrill decided that he wanted to go to prison. Of course, that decision was made a little easier because he could leave...
The Cross
By Steve Beard - I was in elementary school when I first grasped that the death of Jesus was a big deal. On Good Friday, my mom and dad signed me out of class in time for the noon church service. It was somber and stiff and formal – but I was out of school for the...
Thinking Through a Split
By Thomas Lambrecht - The recently announced separation plan called the “Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation” has aroused many reactions in and beyond the church. Some are satisfied and even hopeful that the long-running conflict in our church can...
Dreams for a New Church
By Chris Ritter - There is good reason to believe that the United Methodist Separation Protocol will be approved early at the 2020 General Conference and today’s United Methodist denomination will give way to two separate churches, each different from anything we have...
Spiritual Warfare and Tying up the Strong Man
By David F. Watson - Several years ago a student stopped me in the seminary hallway. “Brother, will you pray for me?” he asked. “I’m under spiritual attack.” I now look back on that day with regret. I didn’t take him seriously. I said something to appease him and went...
Creation Ex Nihilo and the Power of God
By Beth Felker Jones - “And he showed me more, a little thing, the size of a hazelnut, on the palm of my hand, round like a ball. I looked at it thoughtfully and wondered, ‘What is this?’ And the answer came, ‘It is all that is made.’ I marveled that it continued to...
Lessons from the Wesleyan Revival
Lessons from the Wesleyan Revival By Winfield Bevins - On a recent trip to England, I visited several of the historic sites of the Wesleyan revival with a friend. One of the places we visited was City Road Chapel in London, founded in 1778 by John Wesley. We...
